


Not what we expected

by YouSetTheTone



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 16:17:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13127289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouSetTheTone/pseuds/YouSetTheTone
Summary: The headline saying “Who’s Kara Danvers, Cat Grant’s new girlfriend?” had been unexpected but it at least gave her a reason – one that she was willing to admit – to be there.





	Not what we expected

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redfield5x5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redfield5x5/gifts).



> Part of the Super Santa Femslash 2017
> 
> I loved both prompts and couldn't decide which one to write for a long time. I started with the first one then switched, and eventually finished both. I hope you'll enjoy them.
> 
> Prompt: fake dating, for any reason whatsoever - be it for an undercover mission, to get rid of someone, or as a prank, or anything. preferably canon compliant. bonus points if it makes it to the media
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @youwritethetone

Kara sighed when she saw Mon-El – Mike when they're at Catco, she reminded herself – waiting for her outside of Cat’s office. She still couldn’t think of it as James’ office.

She idly wondered if people would get suspicious if they never actually saw her getting out of the office because she’d used the balcony instead. She could already hear Alex lecturing her about unnecessary risk when James eventually spilled the beans by accident.  The door it was then. And while the chances of her avoiding him successfully were slim, she would still try. She waited and when Eve stood up to go to the printer and he stared after her, she seized the opportunity. She opened the door and, walked as fast as she thought humans could. She had almost made it past the pink panther statue when he caught up with her.

“Hi Kara,” he said, happily.

Kara groaned and took a second to school her features before turning around.

“Mike.”

“So I was thinking,” he started but Kara tuned him out.

This had honestly been a terrible mistake. She wanted to help him get settled on Earth. She wanted him to get the chance of having someone who knew what it was like to be an alien on this planet. She really did. But getting him an internship at Catco was the worst idea she’d ever had because now everywhere. He was at the DEO when she was, he dropped by unannounced at her place multiple times a week, and she’d given him the opportunity to follow her around during her day job. Really, after a month, she was lucky if she could escape for a few minutes in her office – which he miraculously didn’t about yet.

“…want to go have drinks. Just the two of us.”

Oh. And that was the other problem. He had started asking her out. Repeatedly.

The first time she had laughed. Until she’d seen the hurt look on his face and realized he’d been serious. She’d apologized for being insensitive and then had done a decent job at letting him down gently. Or so she had thought because not 24hours later, he’d asked again. It had been going on for a week and her patience was thinning out.

“I already told you no,” she sighed.

“Alright. I thought you might have changed your mind.”

“Well, I haven’t,” she hissed. “And I won’t, so stop asking.”

When he didn’t say anything back, Kara started to walk away, hoping to get to her office and get some work done. She hadn’t planned on being harsh but nothing else had worked so far and she was done with it.

She was barely two steps away, when Mon-El spoke again. Loudly. “Gee, Kara, no need to be so rude. I was only asking.”

A few heads in the bullpen turned to look at them. Embarrassed, Kara grabbed his arm with more force than she would have used on a human and dragged him to the empty balcony.

“Look, Mon-El, I tried to be nice about it, but you have to stop. You’ve asked me, I’ve said no. You need to deal with it otherwise I won’t be able to help you anymore.”

He looked pensive for a minute and when something seemed to dawn on him Kara thought she had finally got through to him.

“You’re already seeing someone, aren’t you? That’s why you won’t go out with me.”

No such luck.

“No, I –“ she tried to interrupt but to no avail.

“You should have said so sooner instead of letting me make a fool of myself!”

Kara was stunned. How he managed to make this her fault, she didn’t know. She’d been nothing but patient and kind to him, forgiving him when he crossed her personal boundaries because she thought he might not know better. Well, she wouldn’t be excusing his behavior anymore. She was about to tell him just that when another thought crossed her mind.

She wanted him to stop asking her out. And it appeared that simply saying no wasn’t working. But if he believed she wasn’t available, he might be willing to give up. Maybe if she played along with his suggestion for a while he would eventually forget he was ever interested in her. She didn’t particularly like lying and letting him think his behavior was alright but he left her no choice. She was done trying to teach him how to be a decent person – she already had two other demanding jobs. And she could live with him blaming her if it meant he’d leave her alone.

Ignoring the feeling that this would all come back to bite her in the ass, she mustered her best apologetic face and told him, “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

She waited with baited breath for his answer, praying that he would buy it.

“Alright, I forgive you. And I’m happy for you Kara.” He paused before adding, “But you should have just been honest with me.”

The urge to throw him back to where had had come from was strong. Rao, even Siobhan hadn’t been as irritating as he was. And she’d attempted to fire her and then kill her. However, instead of giving in, Kara took a deep breath, her fists clenched so hard she was glad she couldn’t really feel the pain of her nails biting onto the palm of her hand.

“Honesty is the best policy. Got it. I’m glad we could have this talk, but I should go now.”

She forced a smile, patted him awkwardly on the shoulder, and started heading back inside. She was one step away from freedom when he stopped her. Again.

“Wait! Who is it?”

Damn it, he never stopped asking question, did he? And unfortunately for her, her hasty decision to lie hadn’t left much room for planning.

“I don’t think it’s your business.”

He ignored her, as expected.

“Come on, I won’t tell anyone,” he promised but Kara didn’t believe him one bit. Mon-El loved gossip. “Is it someone I know?”

Kara looked around, hoping to find a way out of this, when her eyes landed on one of the TV inside.

Cat was giving an interview in Metropolis. Using her superhearing, she listened to it. Cat made a joke and Kara chuckled along with the audience Seeing Cat’s face – even if it was just on TV – and hearing her voice brought a smile to Kara’s face. She missed her. Cat had told her to dive but she had left before Kara could tell her she’d realized she wanted Cat by her side when she did.

She noticed too late that Mon-El had followed her gaze and was now looking back and forth between her and the TV screen. She blinked once. Twice. Rao, no.

“Wow, you’re dating Cat Grant? Isn’t she like really rich and powerful?” Kara, in her panicked state, struggled to come up with an objection to his inaccurate and potentially dangerous assumption. Nothing. Except thinking he was a dumbass for not knowing who Cat Grant was, her mind was drawing blank. “Oh shoot, I should probably get back to work. See you around. And don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

With that he was gone, leaving Kara very worried, and wondering how the hell her one little lie had gone so wrong so quickly.

Well shit. Now she had to call Cat and let her know what was going on. In the month since Cat’s departure, Kara had thought about calling her several times. Sometimes without even meaning to, she’d found her thumb hovering over Cat’s contact. Every time, she’d chickened out. Something she didn’t have the luxury of doing now. And this wasn’t going to be the conversation she’d thought they’d be having.

Her call went straight to voicemail, leaving Kara partly relieved that she wouldn’t have this conversation right away. It wasn’t the kind of things you said over a voicemail and she could use the time before Cat called back to think of ways to apologize.

“Hello Ca- I mean Miss Grant, it’s Kara. You’re probably really busy right now but could you maybe call me back when you get this. It’s important so –“ Her phone buzzed. Alex. It had to be a DEO emergency. She’d have to cut her message short. “Uh, I have to go. Please call as soon as you can. On the off-chance that something happens before I can explain, I’m sorry and I didn’t mean for this to happen. Alright hum bye.”

Kara hung up and groaned. It wasn’t great but it would have to do for now.

* * *

Hours later, Kara flew through the open windows of her apartment – the situation with Cat completely forgotten. Kicking off her boots in the middle of the living room, she then headed for her bathroom. Stopping the alien had taken more time than expected. They had attacked her and two DEO agents with some sort of blue slime and Alex, as well as Hank, had insisted on running several tests to ensure it wasn’t dangerous.

The sun had already set when Alex had given her the all clear so going back to Catco at this hour was pointless. And she was in need of a shower anyway – quickly washing up in the cold and sterile shower stalls of the DEO didn’t compare to the long shower she was planning to take in the comfort of her own home.

She set the water to scalding and let the steam fill the room. She took her time, scrubbing every inch of skin thoroughly, the noise of the constant stream of water helping her relax and block out the world outside her apartment.

She was in the middle of rinsing the shampoo out of her hair when the knock came. Alex had said she would drop by once she was done with her paperwork but that had been fast. Maybe she’d convinced Hank it could wait till tomorrow and had him drop her off.

Using a burst of superspeed, she finished showering and wrapped a towel around her. On her way to the door, she heard her phone buzzing on the table. 12 missed calls, 15 texts, and more notifications on her social media apps than she’s ever had before. She frowned. What the hell was going on?

There was another insistent knock. Kara rolled her eyes, put her phone back down – she would check it later – and walked to the door.

“Alex, did you forget your keys again?” she asked playfully again as she opened the door. Except it wasn’t Alex standing in the hallway. “Miss Grant?”

* * *

It hadn’t been Cat’s plan.

For a second after Kara opened her door, they were both stunned. Kara because she was surprised to see her there and Cat because she was currently face to face with a towel-clad Kara Danvers. She was half naked in front of her and Cat couldn’t help but stare. Kara’s hair was wet and small droplets of water were running down her face, to her neck, until they reached her chest.

No, it wasn’t at all what Cat had expected for her day when she’d woken up in Metropolis this morning.

Finally, Kara seemed to notice her lack of clothes – and glasses, if the frantic hand she brought to her face was anything to go by. Cat smirked.

 “Is that how you always answer your door?”

“No – I thought…I didn’t…My sister…” Kara stammered. She took a deep breath before adding, “Would you like to come in ?”

She stepped aside to let Cat in.

“I wouldn’t have come all the way here if I didn’t,” she answered as she walked in. Kara closed the door behind her.

“I’ll just be a minute,” Kara said, gesturing to what Cat guessed was her bedroom. She merely nodded in acknowledgment, too busy taking in the place. It was bigger than she had imagined and she had to wonder how Kara had afforded this place all this time, knowing exactly how much she was paid.

Stepping in further, she noticed red boots laying forgotten on the living room floor. She shook her head, amused. If Kara insisted on Cat not knowing her secret, she should at least make a decent effort at keeping it. The easel on her left caught her eyes. The painting was beautiful. Dark and tall buildings, red skies. It almost looked like National City at sunset. But the more she looked at it, the more she saw that the buildings were too futuristic, the sky too red. It wasn’t National City. It wasn’t even Earth.

Behind her, Kara cleared her throat. Cat turned around to face her and the white t-shirt, and grey sweatpants she chose to wear were almost as distracting as just the towel. The glasses were back, and the boots had disappeared, Cat noted.

“Miss Grant, not that I’m not glad to see you but…what are you doing here?”

The truth was that she had panicked. She had been busy when Kara had called and she had let it go to voicemail. When she’d listened to her message a couple of hours later, she’d thought the worst.  Because Kara had made it sound like she was going to do something incredibly stupid. Like she was saying goodbye. She had tried calling back but got no answer. Cat had been on a plane back home within the hour that followed. She’d spent the entire flight worrying that Kara was going to get hurt. It was only when she was back on the ground that she found out the reason for Kara’s call. The headline saying “Who’s Kara Danvers, Cat Grant’s new girlfriend?” had been unexpected but it at least gave her a reason – one that she was willing to admit – to be there.

“I tried calling but you didn’t pick up,” she eventually said. “I don’t suppose you’ve checked the news. The gossip section specifically.”

It took Kara only a second to understand what Cat was hinting at. With a panicked look on her face, she grabbed her phone from the table and scrolled down the screen.

“Oh no. No no no no no,” Kara muttered, her face scrunching up the more time she spent looking at her phone.

“You know, if you wanted my attention, you could have called.”

Cat was only teasing. She had no doubt that Kara had no part in this. Well, she obviously knew something – she had tried to warn Cat after all – but whatever had caused this, she knew it had never been Kara’s intentions.

 “Miss Grant, I am _so_ sorry. I can explain.”

“How the media got the idea that we were dating? That’s a story I’d like to hear.”

Kara paced while she explained how she got them into this mess. It left Cat with several questions, the first and second one being who had decided that hiring this Mick, even as an intern, was a good idea and why Kara had been friends with him in the first place. She filed these questions for later.Right now, they had bigger things to deal with.

“And you couldn’t stop him and correct him because ?”

Kara squirmed. “I wanted to, but I had to go. Somewhere. For a story.”

“Of course,” Cat drawled out. The story being Supergirl chasing down an alien that had been spotted causing trouble by the docks.

“I don’t think he would have listened to me anyway. Which is why I tried to call you in case it somehow got back to you.” Her shoulders dropped, and she pushed her glasses up her nose. “I never thought it would be all over the new by the end of the day. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, Kara.”

It wasn’t her fault.  Someone had talked, thinking they could make some money.

It was hardly the first time Cat made it to the gossip section and and supposedly dating Kara wasn’t the worst reasons of them all. Quite frankly she was surprised more surprised that it hadn’t happened sooner, when Kara was still her assistant. Her employees weren’t as discreet as they thought they were. The rumors that they were sleeping together had started a few months after Kara started working for her. Cat even knew about the bet that had been going on for a year now.

Naturally, the rumors were untrue. They were, however, not unfounded. Kara was special, Cat had always known that. She’d thought it was just professional potential but after a few months, Kara’s sunny smile had made her break her most important rule – never get feelings for an employee, especially not your assistant.

She’d failed at distancing herself. It wasn’t for lack of trying but Kara didn’t let anyone go so easily. Telling Kara to dive gave Cat the perfect opportunity to leave. Physical distance should have been enough to protect them both. Yet here they were.

“But couldn’t this reflect badly on you, I -“

Cat held up a hand and Kara stopped talking. It was good to see that Cat could still have this effect on her.

“And stop pretending that I’m the only one that is affected by this.”

“What do you mean, I’m nobody.”

“But you aren't nobody, Kara. You never were.” Cat gave her a pointed look. She was tired of not being able to tell Kara she knew but it wasn’t her call and Cat had to respect that. “And when people start whispering behind your back that you slept your way up, it will affect you. This affects both of us.”

Cat would even argue that Kara had more to lose than she did.

Kara seemed to think for a long time about what to say next and when she opened her mouth, her words were not what Cat expected. “What if I told you I didn’t mind?”

“Kara…”

She had always had the ability to take Cat’s breath away but surely, she couldn’t mean…

“Because I don’t, Cat.” Cat inhaled sharply at hearing her name fall from Kara’s lips. She’d only called her by her first name a handful of times before, all of them when donning the supersuit. And while she was using a bit of that Supergirl confidence, it was still only Kara in front of her. “I am sorry because I didn’t mean for this to happen but, Cat, there are worse things that people thinking you would be interested in me.”

“You don’t mean that,” she said, causing Kara to walk closer to her.

“You left before I could tell you and I did want to call, several times. But you’re here now and I’m telling you I’d be happy if the rumors were true.”

She raised her hand to cup Cat’s cheek, and god, Kara’s skin is so warm against her face.

“What are you doing, Kara?” she asked, her voice nothing but a whisper.

“You told me to dive so that’s what I’m going to do,” she answered. “Unless you say no. Then you can tell me what we need to do to get rid of the rumors and we forget this ever happened.”

Cat couldn’t believe she was that lucky but she wasn’t one to let an occasion slip away. She grabbed Kara’s neck and pulled her down into a kiss. Kara’s lips are soft against hers and it’s even better than Cat had daydreamed it, on her weakest days, when she’d watched Kara through the glass walls of her office.

“Wow,” Kara breathed when they pulled apart. “We’re not denying anything then?”

She traced Kara’s lips with her thumb. “No. We’re not.”


End file.
